


At the Beginning

by serindipitysays



Category: Tin Man (2007)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-18 01:17:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18975856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serindipitysays/pseuds/serindipitysays
Summary: After the eclipse another journey is about to begin. A collection of 100 word drabbles based on a FanMix I made a decade ago.





	At the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Fic originally posted to FF.net in 2009 now being ported to AO3.

**Kind and Generous – Natalie Merchant**

_"You've been so kind and generous_   
_I don't know how you keep on giving_   
_For your kindness I'm in debt to you_   
_And I never could have come this far without you"_

Though she tried as hard as she could, there were not enough words in the English, or Ozian language to express DG's feelings of gratitude towards Wyatt Cain. He had been her protector, her supporter, her strength when she had wanted to curl up in a ball and cry in self-pity and helplessness. Now, as they stood on the balcony watching the suns rise over the O.Z, she met his eyes and realized she didn't have to put into words everything she was feeling. The smile that graced his face and shone from his eyes told her, he already knew.

**For You – The Calling**

_"Someone's changed me_   
_Something's saved me_   
_And this is who I am_   
_Although I was blinded_   
_My heart let me find out_   
_That truth makes a better man_   
_…_   
_I'm there for you_   
_No matter what_   
_I'm there for you_   
_Never giving up_   
_I'm there for you_   
_For You"_

Cain chuckled softly as he watched DG spin in circles in the pouring rain. His arms were crossed over his chest as he leaned against the palace wall keeping watch over the youngest princess as she danced. Although the eclipse had occurred over a month ago he had yet to leave the young woman's side. She'd told him that he didn't need to stay, she would be fine if he left, but her eyes had told the truth even when her voice stood firm. Day after day he tried to convince himself he stayed because of a long forgotten promise.

**West Coast Wind – The City Drive**

_"Put your pain aside_   
_It's not the end of time_   
_From where I'm standing"_

He found her late one night; half dead in the palace kitchen and sipping scalding hot tea but never flinching. When she started crying he held her, rubbing her back and whispering words of comfort. Self-pity and loathing had ravaged DG's mind for weeks after the eclipse. Fifteen annuals of pain and darkness had been her fault. She asked him how he could ever forgive her. She was the reason his wife was dead. He whispered that she was not to blame.

For the first night in months she slept soundly as he stroked her hair and held her close.

**Beside Me – Forty Foot Echo**

_"And when you're not around_   
_I like to say the things_   
_That I could never say to your face_   
_'Til you can fly awake, inside your dream awaits_   
_To see you there, when you're beside me_   
_And still you're beside me…_   
_Yesterday's far away, and I won't be running back_   
_'Cause I won't leave you"_

Did she really ask him how he could ever forgive her? He wanted to laugh at the idea. She was only five years old when she had changed the O.Z. and his life forever. Even if he had created a twisted timeline linking his wife's death to what happened in the cave, he could never blame the woman that was now asleep in his arms. If anything, he should be thanking her.  _We are all looking for second chances._  He had a second chance at life because of her. He wasn't about to waste it dwelling on blame and regret.

**Downfall – Matchbox Twenty**

_"Ive always been with you_   
_Here and now_   
_Give all thats within you_   
_Be my savior_   
_And Ill be your downfall"_

The months passed and Cain didn't know how much longer he could bare being DG's bodyguard. He wanted to stay, more than anything. But it was dangerous. DG was the embodiment of everything he thought had died while he was trapped in the tin suit. She was joy, faith, hope, and love. The light to his darkness. He was quickly falling in love with the young woman who had come charging heart first into his field of vision a half-annual ago. He couldn't fall in love with her, a bodyguard was not supposed to fall in love with his princess.

**I'll Keep Your Secrets – Trans-Siberian Orchestra**

_"What is this thing you keep inside_   
_Out of the light and wrapped in pride_   
_Always afraid that one day it will show"_

He began putting space between himself and DG after he decided to leave the palace. He'd barely talked to her unless absolutely necessary. It was slow torture. This would be the worst torture however: telling her that he was leaving. Unfortunately, she spoke before he could.

"What is your problem?"  
"Pardon me?"  
"Why won't you chase or follow me?"  
"Don't you like alone time, Princess?"  
"You won't even talk to me."

"I miss you." She whispered.

He looked into her tear filled eyes and sighed. Mentally he slowly unpacked, placing his few belongings once more in their proper place.

**She Changes Your Mind - Copeland**

_"She changes your mind_   
_When you see the joy in her eyes_   
_It makes you feel_   
_It makes you feel_   
_That she draws your eyes_   
_From all the things that made you numb_   
_It makes you feel_   
_It makes you feel_   
_…_   
_It was your hello that kept me hanging on every word_   
_And your goodbye that keeps me listening for your voice around each corner_   
_It keeps me listening for you voice around each corner"_

Some days he still wished that he had ignored the pleading look in DG's eyes the day he had wanted to leave the palace for good. Today however, he knew he had made the painful, but right decision. Her soft voice called out to him to follow her through the maze on the periphery of Finaqua. He had spent all afternoon not only searching for the exit but for her as well. She taunted him; she dashed around corners just as he reached a hand out to grab a hold of her. She was forever just out of his reach.

**Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? – She & Him**

_"Why don't you sit right down and make me smile_   
_You make me feel like I am just a child_   
_Why do you end it?_   
_Just give me credit_   
_I'm just sitting on the shelf"_

The O.Z. was the complete opposite of the Other Side as far as age was concerned. In the O.Z. alcohol was legal at eighteen annuals and twenty-one was when a person was finally recognized as an adult. Although many could argue that DG had been an adult for many annuals, now it would finally be official. As the date drew closer the young woman felt a mixed sense of excitement and apprehension. She would finally be considered an adult. She just wondered, would her Tin Man finally see that, or would it remind him of how young she truly was?

**Things Don't Always Turn Out That Way – The Calling**

_"So wipe that smile off your face_   
_Before it gets too late_   
_There's only so much time_   
_For you to make up your mind"_

He couldn't stop his growl whenever a new prince or duke joined DG on the palace's ballroom floor. The glass of water in his hand was close to shattering in his grip. As the Birthday Ball drew to a close he knew he couldn't just stand back and watch any longer. With determined strides he crossed the room until he was standing behind the woman. He placed his hand against her arm and gently turned her around. "Dance with me?" He was answered with a radiating smile that not one of the princes or dukes had the pleasure of receiving.

**Gorgeous – Idina Menzel**

_"In a perfect world, in another time_   
_In a far off place we wouldn't need to justify_   
_Everything we are_   
_And all that we believe_   
_We could finally be_   
_Whoever we both want to be"_

They danced around the ballroom floor as gracefully as cattle. He stepped on her toes. She tripped on her dress. To onlookers they made an extremely odd pair. A gruff Tin Man and dainty princess did not mix. Yet the couple could care less what others thought. In their minds they moved elegantly, as if they had been dancing together all their lives. The gossiping royalty did not surround them; they were alone, surrounded only by candlelight. In a world all their own they held each other close, letting their fluid movement put words to the thoughts in their heads.

**She's Like The Wind – Patrick Swayze**

_"I look in the mirror and all I see_   
_Is a young old man with only a dream_   
_Am I just fooling myself_   
_That she'll stop the pain_   
_Living without her_   
_I'd go insane"_

Cain took extra time securing her room after the ball. He checked under the bed, behind the curtains, in every shadow. With so many people in the castle he needed to be certain of her safety. DG whispered softly that he could stay with her; he could stay on the couch instead of leaving her all alone. He agreed without hesitation. As she slept he watched over her, ever her protector. Her face was the image of contentment, her dark hair falling like a halo around her head. She was vision from a dream. A dream that was all his.

**Fairytale – Sarah Bareilles**

_"Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom_   
_Man made up a story said that I should believe him_   
_Go and tell your white knight that he's handsome in hindsight_   
_But I don't want the next best thing"_

DG wouldn't marry some random stuck-up snobby prince. She wouldn't. She refused. Her mother married for love. So why now was she being denied that privilege? She didn't want some pompous boy by her side telling her what to do and how to do it. What she wanted was Wyatt Cain. He was the only one she could ever imagine by her side when she was crowned. She loved him. If her mother had a problem with that DG didn't care. Her mother was allowed to marry for love. The O.Z. be damned if she wasn't allowed that as well.

**In Her Eyes – Josh Groban**

_"I am not a hero_   
_I am not an angel_   
_I am just a man_   
_Man who's trying to love her_   
_Unlike any other_   
_In her eyes I am"_

"I know that I am not a prince, a duke or an earl. I'm just an old Tin Man and your bodyguard. But… if you will accept me… I would like to be more for you. Your parents have, finally, given their consent. Took your mother a bit of convincing though. The point is…DG, you came crashing into my life with your heart open. In doing so you helped me find mine again. And if you want it, it's yours. I love you."

Glitch smiled to himself as he secretly watched the nervous man practice his speech in the gardens.

**Come Here Boy – Imogen Heap**

_"I know that my face_   
_Is only too familiar to your sleep_   
_I can see it in your eyes_   
_And I can tell by your body heat"_

She must be dreaming. He couldn't be here? Asking her that? Saying those words she had longed for so long to hear. She nodded her head slowly, shock still covering her face. When his arms wrapped around her and their lips met she knew she was truly awake. In her dreams he never kissed her like this. With such passion and love in a single movement. In dreams he never held her as if his life depended on it. She was awake. She was in Cain's arms. She loved him. He loved her. And she was going to marry him.

**At The Beginning – Richard Marx and Donna Lewis**

_"We were strangers_   
_Starting out on a journey_   
_Never dreaming_   
_What we'd have to go through_   
_Now here we are_   
_And I'm suddenly standing_   
_At the beginning with you"_

Cain wrapped his arms softly around the woman standing in front of him on the balcony. Together they watched the suns leisurely rise from behind the horizon. The coronation ball had gone long into the night yet neither had felt the least bit fatigued as the last of the guests left. They stayed up waiting for morning with anticipation. A new day. A new era. A new life for them. At that moment they were no longer princess and Tin Man nor queen and prince consort. They were simply DG and Cain, starting out on a whole new journey together.


End file.
